PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Apr 25, 2008 7:38:31 GMT -5
Hi all, The little 127 Agfa I mentioned in another thread arrived this morning. Very well packed in a strong cardboard box, so no complaints there. Nor any complaints about the camera. It's in beautiful cosmetic condition with just a couple of small chips in the painted edging which I shall attend to. It also came with a very nice leather slip-in case which the seller didn't mention, so that's a bonus. I should have dusted it more carefully before taking the pics! As I suspected, there's nothing wrong with the Compur shutter. It works fine on B & T if you don't try to cock it, as you shouldn't on these settings. Yes, the focusing is stiff, as the seller said. Indeed stiff is a mild understatement, it's bl**dy stiff, but that will free up OK with a clean and lube. The seller also mentioned that the aperture lever is stuck. Yes, it is, between f/8 and f/11 but I haven't investigated that yet. It's fitted with Agfa's Solinar lens, and my experience of this lens has been excellent for an uncoated 1930s lens. I haven't got a 127 film at the moment to try it out, but as soon as I do I'll post some pics. Going by the Compur serail number it was made in 1935, or possibly 1936. Thanks for holding off, Steve. I'm very pleased with both the camera and the price. BTW, that was an mighty fine haul at Walmer. You walked away? I would have needed a shopping trolley to cart that lot back to the car! Let us know what you got. Mickey, I don't seem to have any problems with the new-look Photobucket. Perhaps I'm just lucky, or perhaps the planets are in the right juxtaposition . PeterW
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Reiska
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Post by Reiska on Apr 25, 2008 14:06:36 GMT -5
A nice little folder with a good lens in a good Compur shutter, congratulations! I suppose, that Solinar is a Tessar type lens, four elements in three groups? These old 127 folders are smaller than many of the "small" cameras today. Is that film still available in UK ? You can order film from Film for Classics in Honeoye Falls, NY. They have also a processing services for 126, 127, 620 and 828 films but it is in USA. I have two Agfa 6x9 cameras fitted with Agfa Apotar triplets. You write, that you can date it by the Compur serial. Do you know if it is possible to date Agfa by the lens serial or by the camera serial. They both have Prontor Shutters and I can't find any serial outside.
I have red somewhere, that you might "ruin" the sharpness if you open a camera too fast. The film could bulge out of the focusing plate as a result of a suction.
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PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Apr 25, 2008 18:36:27 GMT -5
Thanks, Reijo. Yes, the Solinar is normally a Tessar type layout, though some, mainly for cine cameras I believe, were reversed Tessar type with the cemented pair at the front. I think this gave them a shorter back focus. Also, when the name was first used, a few, but not very many I understand, were made in the early 1930s as triplets, but the Tessar layout is the most usual. Interestingly mine is an f/3.9 75mm. this is an aperture I haven't come across before on a Solinar. All my others (I have four) are either f/4.5 or f/3.5. The camera is usually known as the Billy 0 (zero), and after chasing links all round the internet I find that the Solinar fitted to it was always f/3.9. We live and learn! Sorry, I haven't come across any list which dates Agfa serial numbers (camera or lens), nor any way of dating a Prontor shutter. If anyone finds this info anywhere I'd be pleased to hear. With regard to sucking the film forward if a folding camera is opened too quickly, I think that may have been a danger with older large format rollfilm but I haven't come across it with 120 or 127 film. I remember hearing somewhere, but I can't remember where, that when self-erecting folders first appeared one maker incorporated a one-way valve to let air into the bellows chamber when the camera was opened but I can't even remember the name of the maker - I must be getting old . However, you often come across a warning about this in pre-war photo magazines like Amateur Photographer which used to advise winding on after opening the camera. When I first started photography, back in the 1940s, I absorbed this advice and have always followed it so it's now second nature, though it can slow me down a little if I want to take a quick picture. This is why I usually wind on almost fully after taking a picture, until the 'dots' warning of the next number are showing before I fold the camera. Then it's only a short wind to tension the film and bring up the number. If I'm using a folding camera at an event or a show I usually wind on fully and walk around with it unfolded. PeterW
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Post by alexkerhead on Apr 26, 2008 0:40:36 GMT -5
That is a nice looking camera Peter! Now I need to get one.
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mickeyobe
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Post by mickeyobe on Apr 26, 2008 3:41:44 GMT -5
Peter,
"Mickey, I don't seem to have any problems with the new-look Photobucket. Perhaps I'm just lucky, or perhaps the planets are in the right juxtaposition."
It is probably me, Peter. I am really good at turning lights off and on and I can even operate some radios. But anything electric/electronic that is more advanced leaves me in what you Brits fittingly call a blue funk. I keep reminding my eMac that we are on the second floor and a fall from there would bruise him severely.
The Agfa is a handsome camera. It seems to be very elegantly decorated.
Mickey
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PeterW
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Post by PeterW on Apr 26, 2008 5:06:09 GMT -5
Thanks, Mickey. My pics weren't very good, I took them in a hurry by room lighting and they're far too contrasty. I'll take a couple of better pics when I've fixed the aperture lever and stiff focus. Yes, it is a handsome little camera with a touch of Art Deco - from Exposition des Arts Decoratif in Paris, late 1920s. All the rage again now with collectors. Teague took to it enthusiastically, whence the Beau Brownie Box which Art Deco collectors have pushed up to silly prices. Indeed, Art Deco collectors are doing us out of quite a few cameras with Art Deco patterns on them . Reijo: I forgot to mention that black and white 127 film is normally available in the UK. It's Efke (Adox), and quite nice film but the firm that imports it from Croatia is out of stock at the moment. They say they expect more in about a month. Dixons still have, or had, some from the same source but they charge £5.00 a roll! . The importers charge £2.49, so I'll wait and order a pack of 10 when they come in. PeterW
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Andrew
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Post by Andrew on Apr 26, 2008 18:31:33 GMT -5
Thanks, Reijo. However, you often come across a warning about this in pre-war photo magazines like Amateur Photographer which used to advise winding on after opening the camera. When I first started photography, back in the 1940s, I absorbed this advice and have always followed it so it's now second nature, though it can slow me down a little if I want to take a quick picture. This is why I usually wind on almost fully after taking a picture, until the 'dots' warning of the next number are showing before I fold the camera. Then it's only a short wind to tension the film and bring up the number. If I'm using a folding camera at an event or a show I usually wind on fully and walk around with it unfolded. PeterW HOORAR thats the answer! thanks Peter. winding on just until the dots show that is. i don't know why it never occurred to me! its probably one of those secrets almost everyone but me has been using. i usually don't wind on until the next shot unless at an event or expect to need to shoot quick, in which case i wind straight away. sooner or later a camera gets put away without using that last shot and later on i have to second guess myself to whether it is exposed or not! (I usually have a few cameras with film in them). as you can imagine from time to time i end up with blank or double exposure. winding until just the dots show should reduce those instances markedly
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